Kiera's world dissolved into a silent, gray fog.
The advancing Vanguard soldiers, Joric's shouts, the cold smile on The Quartermaster's face—it all became distant, muted noise.
The datapad on the floor was a black hole, pulling all light and hope into it. Her clan.
Her honor.
Her brother's memory.
All of it was a lie, a carefully constructed facade to hide a rotten core.
Her quest for vengeance was not a noble pursuit; it was a fool's errand, and she was the fool.
Her grip on her sword slackened.
Her energy, the diminished but still-present fire of the Azure Dragons, guttered and died, leaving her feeling hollow, empty, and weak.
Why fight?
Why defend a system that had sacrificed her own brother for 'stability'?
The Vanguard's victory was absolute.
They had not fired a single shot, but they had killed her spirit.
From his rooftop perch, Ryu felt it.
Through the strange, empathic link they shared, he felt Kiera's resolve shatter.
It was not a physical sensation; it was a sudden, crushing wave of pure, soul-deep despair. It was the feeling of a star going out, leaving only cold and darkness.
He felt her pain, her betrayal, her hopelessness, and it was a thousand times worse than any physical blow he had ever taken.
He knew he could not fight them.
He could not create a distraction big enough to save them. But he was linked to her.
A part of her was in him, and a part of him was in her. In that moment of desperation, he did something new.
He didn't try to push his own power out into the world.
He turned inward, focusing on the 'echo' of Kiera's power that resided within him, the blueprint she had given him.
He reached out with his will, not to the world, but through the link.
He didn't send power.
He sent a message. A feeling.
He focused on his own memory of her: Kiera, the peerless warrior, descending like an avenging angel in the Rust-maze.
Kiera, the patient teacher, correcting his stance in the training room. Kiera, her face grim with resolve, choosing to sacrifice her own power to save his life.
He gathered all his awe, his gratitude, his belief in her, and he *called*.
Kiera, lost in her gray fog of despair, felt a sudden, unexpected warmth.
It was a flicker of light in the oppressive darkness. It was not her own.
It was the echo of Ryu's energy inside her, but it was... different. It was imbued with a feeling.
It was the feeling of his unwavering faith in her.
It was a voice, not of words, but of pure emotion, that cut through the Vanguard's lies.
*'You are a warrior of the Azure Dragons,'* it seemed to say.
*'You are my mentor. You are my hero.'*
Her eyes refocused.
She looked past The Quartermaster, past the advancing soldiers, and her gaze met Joric's.
The old medic, cornered and outmatched, had activated the device he was holding.
It wasn't a weapon.
It was an industrial-grade, wide-spectrum EMP. He gave her a grim, almost suicidal nod.
*The plan is still the plan.*
Kiera's despair was not gone.
The wound The Quartermaster had inflicted was deep and festering.
But Ryu's call had given her something to hold onto, a single point of light in the darkness.
Her brother may have been betrayed by their clan, but he had not been betrayed by her. And Ryu, her student, her partner, still believed in the warrior she was supposed to be.
Her grip on her sword tightened.
The fire of her ChainForce, weak and sputtering, rekindled into a small, defiant flame.
"Now, Joric!" she screamed, her voice raw with a new, terrible purpose.
Joric slammed his thumb down on the EMP's trigger.
The world went white.